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After hearing that i created a Watch for Romanian Squadron, Adam contacted me to know more about my collaboration with the 711 SQN from Campia Turzii

This Military Base 71 sits at the border of Russia and is a important Defence Base. Not far from there , there is the beautiful city of Cluj-Napoca.

Adam contacted me saying that as he lived a part of his live in Cluj he was even more attracted to the story of a Belgian-American doing a Watches for the Romanians.

Here how Adam’s Story Starts

Gavox is a Belgian microbrand, founded by Michael Happé in 2011. While I never had the chance to see a Gavox outside the Internet, I always kept an eye on the brand because of the very pragmatic design of the watches. The no-nonsense approach to design, the choice of materials and the specs, align Gavox watches with the best tool watches made by other micro and major brands. I’m connected with Michael on Facebook and when he shared a video selfy from Romania, with the gothic church where I was baptised in his background, I dropped him a note to find out more about his visit in Transylvania. He was there to deliver the watches to the pilots of the 711 Squadron in Câmpia Turzii. This was a fantastic achievement for a microbrand and I wanted to know more how did it happen.

Michael’s grandfather was a member of the Flying Tigers, and if you don’t know who they are, you’re not alone, I had to Google it to learn more about this little known, yet fascinating chapter of WWII history. To give you a brief overview, the Flying Tigers was the nickname of the First American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Airforce, active between 1941–1942, composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), with the mission of defending China against the Japanese. But I will let Michael tell the story: